Robbing the cradle - Exploring the ultimate conspiracy

Lindbergh kidnapping

Without much fanfare, Charles A. Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1902. The year in which he turned 25 years old, Charles would receive his fanfare. In fact, because of his actions on May 21, 1927, Lindberg would become a household name throughout the world.

Famous

Charles Lindbergh and his aircraft the Spirit of St. Louis took off from a muddy runway at Long Island’s Roosevelt Field on the morning of May 20, 1927. The next day he safely touched down on a runway in Paris, France. An ecstatic crowd of some 150,000 people had gathered at the French airfield to witness the historic moment.

Lindberg was the first person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. He was an instant worldwide celebrity. One person reportedly said that crowds were “behaving as though Lindbergh had walked on water, not flown over it.”

Five years later, the Lindbergh name would be broadcast around the world once more. This time it was a much darker event. The fame and fortune of Charles’ life had attracted attention by those of the criminal element.

Infamous – robbing the cradle

On March 1, 1932, Charles Lindbergh, Jr., the 20-month-old son of the aviation hero was kidnapped from the family’s new mansion in Hopewell, New Jersey. A ransom note was discovered demanding $50,000.

The Lindberghs were swamped by offers of assistance. Even Al Capone offered his help from prison. Eventually a ransom of $70,000 was paid and the Lindberghs were told their baby was on a boat off the coast of Massachusetts. However, the baby’s body was discovered near the Lindbergh mansion. He had been killed the night of the kidnapping. The heartbroken Lindberghs ended up donating the mansion to charity and moved away.

Kidnapping is one of the cruelest crimes committed. It takes that which is innocent and uses them as pawns for selfish gain. It terrorizes the family as they worry about the well-being of their lost loved one. They worry sick and to the point of exhaustion.

Children are our most precious commodity. They are our future. Sadly, sometimes our future is robbed from us by those who would take our offspring for their own personal gain. Tragically, kidnapping comes in several forms, and tragically, it has been happening for thousands of years.

Another incident of robbing the cradle

For hundreds of years, the nation of Israel had been the apple of God’s eye. Yet, for that same length of time it had been a source of His sorrow. No matter what God did for Israel it was never good enough. Israel had turned its back on her God and fragmented into two kingdoms: Israel to the north and Judah to the south. Sadly, the northern kingdom had been cast out of the land by the Assyrians under God’s judgment. Unfortunately, as we will see, Judah was not far behind in being cast out as well.

A king’s rebellion (Daniel 1:1-2)

Jehoiakim’s politics

Instead of putting his trust in the Lord, Judah’s King Jehoiakim trusted in his own political savvy. Judah and the other small countries in the region were often under the control of world dominant powers. During Jehoiakim’s time, the two opposing powers were Egypt to the west and Babylon to the east.

These powerful empires would constantly clash with each other, and the Jews were caught right in the middle. The king of Judah would have to side with whoever he felt was winning at the time and it often meant that as a vassal state, Judah would have to pay tribute money to whoever was in control over them. Sometimes, they would pay money and swear allegiance to Egypt and sometimes to Babylon. Sometimes Judah would play one empire off against the other and sometimes Judah would refuse to pay anyone which would ultimately lead to their demise.

The real issue at hand is that Judah’s King Jehoiakim was more interested in serving world powers and his own interests than he was in serving Jehovah God of Israel. This meant that he was no longer under the protection of God and was at the mercy of circumstances.

King Jehoiakim was ungodly and therefore ruled a very unstable kingdom. And that brings us to the people serving under King Jehoiakim.

Judah’s secularism

A survey of Judah’s history will show you that it had some good kings, and it had some wicked kings. The issue with Judah was that even when it had a godly king, the people for most part were not so godly.

At times they followed after the pagan gods of the countries around them. At times they would be in revival and turn back to the true God, Jehovah. In either case, there was a secularism that prevailed among the people. They were directing their own lives without seeking God’s favour. God had become a symbol rather than a substance to them. Israel chose to be like the Gentile nations by disregarding the sacred and regarding the secular.

The King’s revenge

We must always be sensitive to God’s working in our lives. God is not distant; He is not apathetic towards His creation.

In Daniel 1:2 we read, “the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand.”

As there are earthly kings, there is also a heavenly, eternal King. The Lord’s subjects include everyone, even the pagan leaders of this world. In dealing with the kingdom of Judah, God chose to punish His children using another kingdom that was even more ungodly. But what was this wicked pagan king capable of doing?

A king’s ransom (Daniel 1:2-4)

In his capture of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar took a large sum of wealth from the Israelites.

Sacred items

“And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.” (Daniel 1:2)

Whenever a king would conquer another king, it would be said that his gods were greater. Likewise, Nebuchadnezzar was pronouncing his gods (the head god being Marduk) as superior to the Hebrews God, Jehovah. As part of this proof, Nebuchadnezzar took some sacred items from the kingdom of Judah for a trophy but that was not all.

Sons of nobility (robbing the cradle)

“And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.” (Daniel 1:3-4)

The greatest wealth of any land is its people. Nebuchadnezzar recognized this and decided to weaken Judah while at the same time strengthening Babylon. To do this, he transferred select individuals out of the land. These were not just any individuals; they were the best sons of the ruling class in Judah. To sum it up Nebuchadnezzar “robbed the cradle” in Judah by steeling away its best young men.

Daniel 1:4 lists the characteristics of the children Nebuchadnezzar sought to steal. They were physically healthy, handsome, insightful into administration, could breakdown complicated information and put it into understandable knowledge, they had teachable minds with confidence in how to present themselves before royalty, and they were capable of mastering communication.

So, what?

The king of Babylon was taking young men who he could fashion into leaders in order to strengthen his own kingdom. Sadly, Babylon’s gain was Judah’s loss. But God does not lose. Throughout the book of Daniel, we read about God’s triumphs through the lives of four of these young captives.

Robbing the cradle is a term that is often used for an entirely different meaning, but it suits the Book of Daniel just fine. As we observe, the Lindberghs and the Hebrews had something in common. It was an incredibly sad commonality. For vastly different reasons, they had their cradles robbed. They had their future taken.

The Israelites could have prevented their loss by remaining loyal to God and therefore continuing under His protection. But the king of Judah and his people were more interested in earthly issues. Their future would take an abrupt detour. God wanted so much more for them.

However, it is important to know that God’s plan sometimes involves detours. Even these deviations are part of His divine scheme. After providing the nation of Israel with a country of its own and kingly crowns to lead it, God temporarily removed the Jews by casting their offspring out of the land in order to correct their ongoing error against Him.

Dear listener, do not despair of Nebuchadnezzar’s robbing the cradle. As you will see in future blog posts, God’s will, will be done. His divine scheme will be accomplished regardless of detours and distractions. Stay tuned!

Care to comment on this?

According to Daniel 1:2, was God responsible for the kidnapping of the Hebrew children? If He was, how could this be justified?

Until the next post, keep searching the DIVINE SCHEME!

Regards,
Mike MacDonald

mike@divinescheme.com

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